Reality Check: Moving from legacy to mobility

Enterprises looking to further integrate mobility into their operations may need to examine their legacy support systems.

While some companies are still getting by with legacy technology solutions, it’s apparent mobility has emerged as a business-critical platform that is driving digital transformation. Subsequently, companies must adapt or possibly be left behind. There are many factors companies using legacy IT and/or telecom expense management solutions must consider when managing today’s expanding mobile devices ecosystem. Legacy TEM solutions and providers can cause complexity in a vast range of tasks: ordering, shipping, invoicing, inventory, human resource management, decommissioning/reassigning devices and more.

While considered an easy way to save on costs, legacy and TEM solutions cannot solve all of the complexities associated with mobility. Miscalculations, the inability to integrate with enterprise mobility management platforms and holes in data security are just a few possible consequences. Here, we’ll explore the challenges that come with wireline-focused solutions, as well as how companies using these legacy solutions can make the transition to more up-to-date wireless options.

The hard truth about legacy systems and TEM

Many companies today still utilize the same IT and TEM systems they deployed several years (or, in very rare but troubling cases, decades) ago. For these companies, relying on “trustworthy” solutions make sense – they’ve worked for their business up until now, so why fix something that isn’t broken?

The truth of the matter is legacy and TEM systems frequently do not satisfy the mobility management needs many companies now face. Let’s take device orders for example.

Device management

While individual employee device orders are manageable for wireline-focused solutions, major issues arise when orders come in bulk or when large mobile deployments come into play. Legacy solutions and TEM providers aren’t built to accommodate these requests and, as a result, have difficulty processing them accurately and efficiently.

Shipping can be a nightmare for legacy IT or TEM providers. Devices procured through these solutions and providers rarely come ready-to-use, so when configured devices are requested by a customer, legacy solutions/providers rarely know how to handle the demand. This means outsourcing configurations to a third party, resulting in delayed shipments, incorrect delivery date estimations and missing verifications as another step is added to enterprise device distribution and setup. To avoid these obstacles, many TEM providers simply deny larger orders, making a necessary phone upgrade and/or device discontinuations/recalls difficult to handle.

EMM integration

Now, let’s consider EMM (or MDM as it was once called) integration. Legacy IT and TEM solutions cannot fully integrate with EMM programs, thus limiting their impact and making it difficult to manage devices, monitor data access and observe employee use. Companies need EMM solutions to ensure their devices are properly secured, accounted for and taken care of as required. These programs also help companies remain compliant with industry regulations. Lack of EMM integration can also impact a company’s ability to track employee data usage, which impacts carrier bill forecasting, plan and feature optimization, and effective content and/or application access restrictions.

The lack of EMM integration leads to another major concern with legacy and TEM solutions: data security. A huge benefit of having wireless solutions that integrate into EMM programs is the comprehensive security they offer. For example, let’s say an employee leaves the company and her phone is given to another employee. TEM solutions and providers typically do not handle line reassignments and therefore have no way of knowing what data remains on the previous employee’s phone or if the applications on the device are up-to-date. This could cause serious data security issues and privacy concerns for both previous and current device owners. As a result, devices are more vulnerable to threats and data losses/breaches are more likely.

Making the move to mobility

Mobility focused management solutions are the easiest way for companies to know where their devices are, who’s using them and what data users are accessing. They also help reduce costs associated with upgrades and plan adjustments and they help limit the use of third parties. For those of you stuck with legacy solutions and/or TEM providers, don’t panic just yet. There are easy ways to start making the transition to mobile-first options.

First, find a managed mobility services provider that can walk you through wireless options and customize your EMM configuration. These vendors support your program by selecting the best-fitting programs and leading you through the deployment process.

Take time to identify the program/solutions that are best suited for your business. EMM solutions should be customized to meet user needs and demands in a way that allows your program administrators to continuously monitor device ownership, usage and compliance. The goal is to streamline processes rather than add extra complications, steps or layers.

Finally, make adjustments as needed. You may not get it right on the first try and that’s okay. But to help avoid downtime or data loss, institute screenings and record data usage upfront to understand how employees are using their devices, if new or upgraded devices are needed, if plans should be changed, if security precautions need to be added, etc.

Making the move from legacy to mobility can seem daunting, but it’s not as scary as you think. An experienced MMS partner can seamlessly transition your program into the mobility-centric world of tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Reality Check section is where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.